It is well known that artificial fronds for artificial plants are used outdoors for beautifying and landscaping home and estate lawns, boulevard margins, center parkways, public park grounds and areas where natural trees are customarily used. Such artificial plants are equally well adapted for indoor decorative use when desired.
Artificial plants have been made and utilized for a number of years. Usually these have taken the form of a number of blade-like leaf portions of vinyl or other synthetic sheet material which, at their lower ends, are bunched together about a supporting stem member of wire, plastic or wire-reinforced plastic. The lower ends of the leaf portions are secured to the stem member by means of an adhesive strip or length of malleable wire wound about the bunched together lower ends of the leaf members.
It is also known to simultaneously form a large number of leaves or petals of an artificial plant by cutting a flexible sheet of fabric or the like along approximately parallel lines which extend a substantial part of the distance across the sheet so as to define a large number of petal or leaf portions integral, at one end, with a connecting strip. The connecting strip is then wrapped about a stem member of wire or the like and secured thereto by a malleable wire wrapping so that the petal or leaf portions are arrayed about and extend from the supporting stem member.
However, in the foregoing known arrangements, the wrapping of the connecting strip and/or lower ends of the leaves about the supporting stem or wire and the secure attachment thereto requires considerable time, skill and manual dexterity, and it is difficult to provide a product of uniform high quality. Further, such connection systems lack the structural integrity to withstand rigors of outdoor use. That is, artificial plants which are permanently placed outdoors must have sufficient strength to withstand inclement weather, such as high winds, driving rain storms and hail storms.
The present invention overcomes many of the disadvantages inherent in the above-described artificial plants by providing an artificial frond which is easy to manufacture and durable enough to withstand inclement weather due to outdoor use. The artificial leaves of the present invention are secured together by an elongate rod and stem portion. The stem portion surrounds the rod and is in engagement with the leaves for firmly securing the leaves to the rod. Use of the present invention results in an artificial frond which is considerably stronger than prior art artificial fronds, is easy to construct and represents actual fronds with a high degree of accuracy.